IPVanish VPN Review
CLAIM DISCOUNT When it comes to online VPNs, there is a lot of competition from many sources. Companies must stand out in order to attract customers, which can sometimes lead to false advertisement and companies claiming to offer more than they can deliver.
To see whether IPVanish is worth its selling price, we went through a list of criteria that we believe a good VPN needs to have in order to be good value for the customer. Here are the findings.
IPVanish Speeds
Speed of connection is essential for a VPN. No one enjoys videos and images buffering and a VPN that makes their customers internet connection lag will not be getting many customers.
Some VPNs actually improve internet connection, in cases where the previous connection is congested or due to ISP throttling. This however is rare and is a bonus for any VPN that has it rather than a requirement of all VPNs.
IPVanish does not increase download or upload speed, nor does it decrease ping, but there was no noticeable difference from before and after connecting to a point through the VPN. If your connection to the Internet is stable, you should not have any worries about IPVanish’s speeds.
Streaming
If the main reason you would like a VPN is to stream, then it is quite clear that this is not the VPN for you. It does not unblock all streams, as BBC Iplayer and ABC.com cannot be accessed. Netflix can sometimes be streamed, but it is unreliable.
That said, it is capable of streaming ESPN, HBO Go and Sling TV so international television is still an option. Whilst you should not pick this if you only want to stream, if you are looking for a reliable VPN for other reasons, like torrenting or accessing location blocked content, that can also stream then there is no reason as of yet to look elsewhere.
Torrenting
Torrenting is a kind of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing technology where several users can connect to share their files rather than having a single website or source for the files.
This is useful because each peer acts as a mini-server, which significantly reduces the network load. However, torrenting can get you into trouble in the following ways: malware risks, data safety, legal troubles and vulnerability to being hacked.
IPVanish allows unlimited P2P connections which means that you can torrent safely and anonymously. Download and upload speeds do not drop noticeably so IPVanish indisputably allows for torrenting.
Security
IPVanish claim to have a strict no log policy however this is not necessarily true. The Department of Homeland Security in the USA in 2016 requisitioned the logs and IPVanish provided them, which aided the investigation into what was a child abuse and pornography case.
Unless what you are doing is highly illegal, it is unlikely that this will be a problem for your online activities. New management since 2017 have declared that the no log policy is now respected, so you can feel secure with IPVanish.
Adblocker
IPVanish does not have a built in adblocker. This is a little bit disappointing but it does allow third party adblockers so it is not necessarily a big problem because there a lot of free adblockers you can combine it with.
IPVanish
IPVanish does not work in China. It is blocked by the Great Firewall of China.
Value for money
IPVanish does a decent job for the price it offers. If you are hesitating about whether to get this VPN, you can just use their seven day free trial or alternatively, their 30 day cashback guarantee if you are unhappy with their services.